Always
by Panthermonspartner
Summary: It wasn't until after the fighting had ended that she realized what he'd said. Post Eclipse Gate/Pre Tartaros


Always

It wasn't until after the fighting had ended that she realized what he'd said.

" _I'll make you pay from taking someone precious away from me!"_

She'd barely heard him snarl it at the future Rogue, already on her way out of the palace to try and stop the Eclipse Gate and her mind had been far too preoccupied with the fighting and the dragons to even think about any declarations of feelings he may or may not have made. Then again, Natsu was notorious for threatening anyone and everyone who dared hurt his "precious friends" so surely that's all this way. He saw Lucy as one of his friends and that's what he was referring to. Case closed.

At least until they'd returned to Magnolia and to Fairy Tail and she mentioned the whole thing to Mira over a cup of hot chocolate one morning.

"I'm not so sure Lucy. You didn't see him crying. I hadn't seen him that upset since Lisanna died." She said, wiping down a glass.

"Wait, really?" Lucy asked incredulously. "You're kidding."

"Hate to break it to you Lucy but I don't think Natsu is the oblivious one." Mira said with a small teasing smile.

Lucy quickly stood from the bar and nearly shouted, "I have to find Natsu!" before dashing from the guild hall.

Since they'd returned to Magnolia, Natsu had been spending a lot of time alone. When he did come to the guild he seemed fine but Lucy had noticed him staring off into space sometimes when he thought no one was looking. She caught him looking at his hands and the end of his scarf, sometimes pulling the garment up to cover his nose. And that was only when he was at the hall.

"Natsu? Are you here?" Lucy called, knocking on the door of his cottage. When there was no reply she huffed in disappointment and tried to think of where else he could be. She wracked her brain for ideas while she started to head back into town.

When the smell of wood smoke greeted her as she opened the door of her apartment, she cursed herself for not thinking of this first. Natsu was sitting on he bed, an open scrapbook on his lap. It was something she'd been working on since they'd gotten back; her own way of coping with the idea that they may not be going on adventures forever.

"Natsu?" She said tentatively, glancing to see what page he was on. It wasn't anything specific, just a picture of her laughing in the guild hall, a wide smile on her face.

"Natsu, it's alright to not be okay. You know that right?" She said, walking over to sit next to him on her bed.

"He took your smile away." He said softly after a few moments, at though his voice wouldn't go any louder. "He took you away."

"And you kept Me safe. What happened in the palace will never happen now because of you." She said quietly, entwining her fingers in his. "You saved my future."

Using her free hand she turned the page in the scrapbook. These pages were covered in pictures from the guild Christmas party, drunken smiles and happy faces of all of their friends. One in the corner was of the two of them holding hands and blushing under mistletoe as Natsu kissed her cheek.

"What you said back there to Rogue, when she, when I, died. About me being precious to you. What did you mean?" She asked quietly, staring at the picture in the corner.

He was silent for a long time after that and she worried that she'd gone too far and he wasn't ready to talk about it. She opened her mouth to apologize when he said "Seeing you on the floor like that, I was scared and angry and in my head all I could think was that I let that happen to you. I let that bastard take you from me and it hurt so bad."

She glanced at him and saw a tear slide down his cheek, dropping down to be absorbed by his scarf and she wondered just how many tears that scarf had felt. Carefully she took the scrapbook from his lap and set it aside before climbing to sit on his lap, their faces to each other.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly, brushing his tears away with her thumb.

He pulled her into a tight hug suddenly, burying his face into her shoulder. "I won't let anyone hurt you ever again." She heard him say, voice muffled.

"I know. You've always kept me safe and you always will. That's what partners are for." She said with a gentle smile.

"Promise you'll always stay by my side." He said, pulling back just enough to look into her eyes.

"Always."


End file.
